Judge John R. Brown was a distinguished maritime lawyer from Houston when he was nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1955. His almost 40-year tenure on the court was, indeed, an extraordinary time. Judge Brown is known as a strong advocate of civil rights in a court that was at the front line of the civil rights struggle in the South. During his tenure, which included 12 years of serving as Chief Judge, this distinguished jurist presided over the division of the Fifth Circuit and the modernization of the administration of justice.

Professor Issacharoff began his teaching career at the University of Texas School of Law in 1989, where he held the Joseph D. Jamail Centennial Chair in Law, before moving to Columbia Law School in 1999 and New York University Law School in 2005. He is the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law. Professor Issacharoff is one of the pioneers in the law of the political process, his Law of Democracy casebook (co-authored with NYU’s Richard Pildes and Stanford’s Pam Karlan) and dozens of articles have helped to create a vibrant new area of constitutional law. Professor Issacharoff’s areas of expertise are wide ranging and include constitutional law, civil procedure, and complex litigation.

Professor Robert H. Klonoff, Dean of the Lewis & Clark Law School, and former law clerk to Judge Brown, will introduce the lecture with special comments about the legacy of Judge Brown. Dean Klonoff is also a distinguished scholar, particularly in the areas of civil procedure and complex litigation. He is the senior author of a leading casebook on class actions and has served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States.

The lecture is sponsored by the John R. Brown Scholarship Foundation, the former law clerks of Judge Brown, and the University of Houston Law Center and the Houston Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. CLE credit has been requested.